Hillary Clinton admits US funding of Mujahideen

[Orwellian_Ghost]

US created Taliban and abandoned Pakistan: Clinton
By Anwar Iqbal
Saturday, 25 Apr, 2009 | 03:09 AM PST |

WASHINGTON: Two days of continuous congressional hearings on the Obama administration’s foreign policy brought a rare concession from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who acknowledged that the United States too had a share in creating the problem that plagues Pakistan today.

In an appearance before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Mrs Clinton explained how the militancy in Pakistan was linked to the US-backed proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

‘We can point fingers at the Pakistanis. I did some yesterday frankly. And it’s merited because we are wondering why they just don’t go out there and deal with these people,’ said Mrs Clinton while referring to an earlier hearing in which she said that Pakistan posed a ‘mortal threat’ to the world.

‘But the problems we face now to some extent we have to take responsibility for, having contributed to it. We also have a history of kind of moving in and out of Pakistan,’ she said.

‘Let’s remember here… the people we are fighting today we funded them twenty years ago… and we did it because we were locked in a struggle with the Soviet Union.’

<snip>

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/12-us-created-taliban-and-abandoned-pakistan-clinton--bi-06

[condoleeza]

1. Good for her for telling the truth - how rare is that? n/t

[Traveling_Home]

2. Rare? - They made a movie about it

Charlie Wilson's War

starred Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts

[ohheckyeah]

10. That was a great movie.

Wilson warned the U.S. about all of the orphans left from that war and he tried to get money to help educate them and see that they were taken care of.

[condoleeza]

22. The documentary is better, IMO, still think it's rare

[Vidar]

3. Good for Hillary.

[NightWatcher]

4. we funded the Mujahideen, then when we wanted a pipeline, we started calling them al qaeda

[Occam Bandage]

8. "We" started calling them al-Qaeda?

Here I thought they started calling themselves that. And that they were launching attacks on America and American property abroad during the Clinton years. Silly me.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

19. Yes and no

There is no clear demarcation on the matter as many groups began to call themselves al-qaeda for publicity and political purposes of their own as well as many being labeled such by Western intelligence agencies regardless of actual affiliation.

[Toucano]

5. "...locked in a struggle with the Soviet Union."

Because the neocons invented it.

[Occam Bandage]

7. What a strange definition of "neoconservative" you must have.

Neoconservatives must have been in charge of our government since the 1920s! Why, that's as impressive as Glenn Beck's claim that fascists have been trying to take over the country since half a century before there were fascists!

[Toucano]

12. If by strange you mean accurate and well-informed, thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_B

The nonconservatives, disciples of Leo Strauss, created and invented an exaggerated threat of the Soviet Union from whole cloth that led directly to U.S. funding and training of forces in Afghanistan.

[Occam Bandage]

14. We started fighting the Soviets in the '70s? Wow!

I'm glad we didn't engage in proxy wars against the Soviet Union before that.

[Toucano]

17. Ask yourself how many disarmament treaties were signed prior to Team B

and how many were ratified AFTER? They reversed the course. The progress made between 1963 and 1979 ended.

"Team B's efforts not only were effective in undermining the incoming Carter administration's disarmament efforts but also laid the foundation for the unnecessary explosion of the defense budget in the Reagan years. And it was during those years that virtually all of Rumsfeld's compatriots were elevated to positions of power in the executive branch."

The "struggle" with the Soviets which led the U.S. to involvement in Afghanistan is directly the product of the efforts of the neoconservatives and Team B.

[blindpig]

16. How quickly we forget...

Zbigniew Brzezinski, wanna-be Kissinger. He now has the President's ear. Oh boy.

[Occam Bandage]

6. Republicans bashing her for "blaming America" in 3...2...1...

[Captain Hilts]

9. This is a secret? nt

[Toucano]

13. The information has been available, yes.

But I don't think any government official has taken responsibility for it in the context of the current situation before.

[cali]

11. widely acknowledged for years and years. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

15. Gee... Other than a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks, this is TOTALLY SECRET info.

Who knew? :shrug: :eyes:

[Jennicut]

18. LOL. I saw Charlie Wilson's War about a month ago. We really dropped the ball there by just leaving.

[robinlynne]

20. Not only that,w e funded Pakistan to the tune of billions, 2 years ago.

And Musharaff, as I recall, dealt with the extremists in Pakistan by giving them half of that money.

[Overseas]

21. K&R!! Beautiful to hear it stated so clearly in public !!

Go Hillary and President Obama !
Acknowledging in public what a lot of the rest of the world already knows about us. Within the hearing of the U.S. audience.

We have sometimes not applied our military prowess very wisely. We've been grand slam and heavy handed, and beyond all the drama, the earth's ecosystem can no longer absorb so many dirty wars.

Let us henceforth seek to win the war of ideas. Or actually renounce war and try a bit of collaboration. And of course, you are negotiating every step of the way. Watching out for mutual advantage. Finding less aggressive ways to trade. More sustainable.

Turns out we were telling the truth way back in college. That we needed to slow things down, for the health of the earth ecosystem.

The good news is that it looked like a lot more fun than the militarized free market we have developed over the past few fast and furious decades.

The days before cruel free trade, it used to be a dream profession to be a trade negotiator. To know your product group so well that you could negotiate deals with many different countries.

So perhaps we can explore the more time consuming ways of multi-lateral trade again. It will slow us down, if nothing else, and that is ecologically desirable.

So I appreciate any acknowledgment that our prior heavy-handed approach requires serious re-examination. We are desperate for more sustainable ways to continue the joyful aspects of international trade. We enjoy one anothers' products, but need to scale things down.

Time to take inventory. So Secretary Clinton's statement is most welcome.

[demokatgurrl]

23. Why is she said to be "admitting"

what Bushco did?